


Plunged Underwater, I Can't Hear

by orphan_account



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: ASL, Avengers Tower, Awesome Clint Barton, Deaf, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Deaf Peter Parker, Flash Thompson Being A Jerk, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Mentioned Flash Thompson, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Tony Stark, Sign Language, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 21:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21327175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Peter Parker's deaf. He always has been. And the one weekend he has to get his hearing aids repaired, he's going to Tony's. And since he hasn't told Tony up until now, May had him go the weekend without them. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Peter Parker, Clint Barton & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 35
Kudos: 1397





	Plunged Underwater, I Can't Hear

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!  
i'm hearing, but learning ASL. if i got anything wrong, PLEASE tell me!! i will correct it! thank you!

Peter Parker went deaf as a toddler.

Nobody told Peter why. It could've been before he was a toddler- he never was explained. But then again, he didn't go out asking all these questions. At age five, he learned lipreading and ASL throughout his life. He didn't make a whole lot of friends due to not being able to hear them and it didn't help that he was taken out of class for an hour each morning to learn ASL and deaf stuff throughout elementary school.

Peter did a lot of reading as a kid, seeing he couldn't... hear. But being deaf wasn't a huge deal to him, he lived life naturally. Of course, he felt embarrassed when kids would write on his paper or something, but other than that, he felt fine about it. When his uncle and aunt would sign that the neighbors kept them awake, Peter would laugh. Ben would now fabricate stories about how loud their neighbors were, one time mentioning they had a dragon, long after they had moved out. Their nephew _always_ enjoyed the stories.

Once after Peter had done well on some of his tests, Ben took him to the Stark Expo in town. There was an interpreter for the main event, which Ben put Peter on his shoulders to see. The interpreter had a black shirt with a printed arc reactor and Peter was so full of excitement. According to Ben, he'd been repeating a lot of the words out loud and May had nearly started an argument with a lady who kept telling Peter to shut up with plenty of curse words.

And then the robots attacked. Peter was taken off Ben's shoulders as everybody ran, and Peter remembered his mask. It wasn't in Ben's hand anymore and he didn't want to lose it, it costs money. Peter ran back to grab it and when he felt vibrations of something landing in front of him, he put the mask on.

He looked up, and through the slits, he saw the big robot. Peter put his gloved hand up as if he was Iron Man himself. He felt invincible. He was Iron Man.

Another monster landed behind him- or so he assumed, with the vibrations. And the one in front of him was thrown back, making Peter jump and look up at his savior.

Iron Man nodded, flying off. Peter backed up and ran, looking for his aunt and uncle. When they found him, they signed furiously not to leave them in any circumstances ever.

In middle school, on the other hand, he got hearing aids. It was his thirteenth birthday and he screamed when he read the label. He clipped them on in the bathroom, beaming into the mirror. He remembered breaking into tears when he heard May and Ben's voice for the first time.

Things went up from there. He learned better and was able to show his full ability and even made it into the Midtown School of Technology and Science and long names. ("Ben, look, the letter! _Midtown Tech!_")

And then he got bit.

He didn't hear the gunshots- he had left his hearing aids at home in a furious rant to ignore his aunt's yelling. He remembered sitting on the stoop, shaking in the New York cold. And he- he got this sense. This sixth sense. He turned to see Ben, making his way over, signing some apology- but then he was on the ground and Peter was calling 911 not knowing exactly what to say or do, shouting that he needed an ambulance and the _blood_ on his hands-

The bite came with cool powers. That was an obvious given. But it also cured some other things. When his asthma went away and he grew muscles virtually overnight, he prayed he could hear now. He could not. But it was whatever and he hid his face anyway, so he hid his ears with the mask and kept the little machines in. He was a little happy about it so they didn't fall out and so him being deaf wasn't his personality. He was a hero, that was his identity.

But then Tony stark was in his living room.

After that, Peter let his hair get a bit longer, managing to hide the clunky machines on his ear better. Though, he forgot they were even in most the time.

By midterms, he'd even forgotten he didn't want anyone to know. He'd slowly stopped caring. Tony didn't know, and if he did, he didn't care. So the panic went away and was replaced with midterm panic and stress. Peter's microphone in his hearing aids was going bad and he kept forgetting to tell May, seeing Peter was cramming and she had work.

"May?" He told her on some Thursday morning while eating breakfast. "My microphone's going bad, can we get them replaced after school today?"

"I have a shift, but I can take them this weekend." She called from her room.

"I'm going to Tony's this weekend."

"You can go three days without them, Peter. Plus, he knows, right?" She entered, clipping on her earrings. When Peter didn't reply, she stopped. "He does know, _right_?"

"I never got around to telling him."

"Peter!" She gasped. "He doesn't know?! You work for him and go over to his- his tower thing every other weekend and he doesn't know?"

"I didn't want him to treat me differently! Remember Ms. Jaye?!" About Peter's seventh-grade challenge science teacher, who made it the biggest deal and would talk _very_ loud when speaking to him, even though he had owned hearing aids for two years now. She had gone out of her way to tell almost everybody and Peter was known as the 'deaf kid' to her. "I just- it never came up. I'm sorry."

"Well, then this weekend you can go without them." She handed him his backpack and he pulled it on. "Have a nice day at school, hon."

"Love you, May." He rolled his eyes with a grin, leaving.

* * *

Friday morning Peter sighed, leaving the hearing aids in his case. He walked to the subway with no music, fear growing in his chest. He hated not having Ramones to calm him down. He wasn't sure why he was getting so worked up. He blamed it on pre-test nerves.

(Fun fact, the new ones he got at the end of seventh grade that had Bluetooth in them, and he and Ned called them "permanent airpods". A few classmates joined in as well and it was super fun.)

It was a little jarring, but nothing he didn't get used to pretty fast. The subway was pretty calm, thank god. But he managed to find a seat and reread one of the passages in his textbook he was having trouble with He sighed, texting Ned that his airpods were in the shop.

The test couldn't give him a whole lot of need for the hearing aids anyway, it was all on paper and he'd just let his teacher know beforehand and she'd let him know when the bell rung. Ned knew ASL, thankfully, so that helped him. Nobody at Midtown, minus the principal and some teachers and Ned, knew that Peter was deaf. So this was a sight to see, two students signing while taking a test.

At lunch, he ran his hands through his hair, sitting across from Ned. Peter tapped his fingers to his chest and then away, signing 'I'm so happy I can't hear. The lunchroom is so loud.'

Ned's ASL was a lot less fluent, but he knew it relatively well. 'Lucky. I'll buy lunch for you.'

Peter was going to say he could get it himself, but Ned was already gone. Peter tapped his foot and a hand slammed on his table in front of him. He looked up at its owner, Flash.

Peter, of course, couldn't hear what he was saying. But by reading his lips, it appeared like "Why the fuck do you keep doing that hand thing with your freaky friends?"

Peter sighed. May would be pissy if he kept it a secret until he graduated. He shrugged. "I'm deaf." And he felt odd. He knew his voice sounded off or he was probably being too loud. Ned set the tray in front of him, frowning. His friend retorted something back, probably telling the bully to go away. Flash scoffed, removing his hand as if it were diseased. Peter continued. "Sorry that I'm deaf. My hearing aids are getting replaced, they'll be back on Monday." Flash wasn't making a confused face, so he assumed he was speaking right and not too loud.

Peter turned to Ned, ignoring Flash. 'So I want to watch that Netflix shows that's from Japan, right? I don't remember what it's called, but since in Japan they're released week by week, I'm not sure whether to pirate or just wait. I mean, I'll watch it when it does come out, but like, which is morally correct?'

Of course, he didn't sign every single word, but that's the message he got across. Ned seemed a little confused, but by the end of his message, Flash had left. As the two continued, Peter noticed some people staring and imitating the two, so Peter stopped. Mostly for Ned's sake, mostly. They'd probably forget by Monday, anyway.

Hopefully.

* * *

At the end of the day, he bid goodbye to Ned and got into Happy's car, putting in his headphones, even if he could only feel the vibration of music, which soon blended in with the car's movement. At least the decoys gave the teen a reason to not speak to him.

When they entered, he murmured a goodbye and entered the elevator. He shouted his name and the elevator moved. He shifted foot to foot, anxiety. He entered and there were Steve, Sam, and Bucky. Peter's chest constricted. He waved and started to make his way down the hall, where Clint exited one of the rooms. He waved and Peter did the more ASL-centered way, hand waving away on his forehead rather than just normally by his chest. It was like a salute, making Clint stop. He tapped his pinkie to his lips and then to his ear, brushing against his cheek. 'Deaf?'

Peter's eyes widened. 'You know ASL?' He fingerspelled.

'Kid, I've been deaf for twenty-two years. Of course, I know ASL. Why do you know ASL?' He jabbed the finger at Peter in an accusatory way.

'Can you promise not to tell?' Peter tapped his index from his chin outwards (tell) with a bit of fear in his expression. The adult frowned and nodded. 'I'm deaf too.'

'Why wouldn't you want people to know that?'

'I don't want Mr. Stark to treat me differently. Is that bad?'

'No, of course not Most my friends don't know about my deafness, it's just easier or they don't care. But Tony won't care, I mean, look at me. He made the building super ADA accessible.'

'Minus the elevator.'

Clint frowned. 'Well, technically if you sign 'deaf', it'll come up with a menu to bring you where you want to go.'

Peter nodded, looking around. He was still in the other three men's view, so he still felt awkward. 'So they won't judge me for being deaf?'

'Of course not. Let's eat, I'll translate. Let me get my hearing aids. I don't usually wear them around the tower. Those guys get annoying.' And Clint went back into the room he exited. Peter went into his bedroom quickly to drop off his bag, taking his phone with him.

Clint joined him in the hall and the two exited and Peter entered, baking supplies everywhere. Steve Rogers, Captain America was baking some sort of cake. Peter tugged on Clint's sleeve, who was most likely making fun of Steve. He turned and Peter hesitantly signed.

'Where's Tony?' Peter fingerspelled 'Tony', now calling the man that instead of his full name.

Clint thought and turned to the ceiling, most likely repeating Peter's question. He signed 'On his way back from a meeting. Are you going to tell him when he gets here?'

'I don't have a choice.' Peter put his hands together. Clint looked up to the other two, making Peter look over as well. Sam had noticed their signing and turned to Peter. He said something, which was either 'Are you deaf?' or 'Are you left?'. Which made Peter smile a little to himself, imagining Sam ask him on his political stances. Peter nodded because both were true.

Steve leaned over, a confused look on his face and repeated the question. Peter spoke, stumbling over his words. "I'm deaf. I don't have my hearing aids. Clint's helping me translate. Sorry."

Clint hit his shoulder. 'Don't apologize. Calm down, it's not the end of the world. Steve's acting like a little pussy, really surprised-'

Steve threw a spoon at Clint's head. From the looks of it, he said "I know what my name looks like in ASL, don't try me!" Peter smiled and everyone continued baking and he even helped mix some of the dry ingredients.

About ten minutes in, a hand landed on his back. The four men were inside the kitchen, so someone else had entered. Peter, according to Clint later, had shouted "FUCK!"

Clint burst out laughing. Once he settled, he signed. 'Do I tell him?' Clint still had a huge ass grin on. Reading lips, it looked like he started to tell Tony to calm down and saying he was deaf. Again, according to Clint, Tony laughed and said no he wasn't. Peter looked over and Tony mouthed "Are you deaf?"

"Yessir." He again had no idea how loud he was being. He signed as he spoke, hoping it'd help Clint reiterate if Peter was hard to understand. "I don't have my hearing aids. May's gonna drop them off at the shop and got mad I didn't tell you, so she's gonna give them to me Monday." While he spoke, he pulled up a picture Tony had taken of Peter and zoomed in, the grayish-blue small over-ear visible. "I can't believe you've never noticed. I mean, they're tiny, but..."

"I thought they were headphones. The first time I met you you had a keyboard from a dumpster." All of this Clint had to translate, snickering at the last part.

"It was _beside_ it! Not in it!" He most likely shouted. Tony said something to Clint, which he answered himself. Clint turned to him. 'Sign something funny. Tell him that Steve's a motherfucker.' But Peter saw Tony tell Clint to stop, seeing the sign for motherfucker was putting the middle finger against your face, with your thumb tapping your chin, like mother, but motherfucker. Ned always found that funny.

Clint and Tony started a conversation, liberally gesturing to Peter, who frowned and passed the ingredients to the other men, who were about to put the cake in the oven.

PETER  
help

MAY  
Did you tell him?  
I dropped them off today. I'll pick them up tomorrow morning.

PETER  
yes  
it's weird  
Hawkeye's deaf

MAY  
Hawkeye?

PETER  
yes ma'am  
he  
s my translator  
it's so weird  
but it's going ok  
sucks to have to lipread again though

Tony tapped his shoulder and he looked up. Clint had a hand open like a fan with the other against it as if he were going to shake a hand. He turned the open hand back and forth. 'Movie?'

Peter nodded, running a hand through his hair. 'I had midterms today. It was about as fun as it sounded. But I think I did well.'

'I'm sure you did great.' Clint translated. Peter sat down as they put on a movie. _Zombieland_, which was super funny. Subtitles were on for obvious reasons and near the end, the cake was almost gone, with Steve, Bucky, and Peter's metabolism. Plus, who doesn't like cake?

* * *

Peter was shaken awake, making him groan. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Tony was there, glancing at Clint, who signed 'Good morning.' Tony repeated it. Peter rubbed his eyes, signing it back. Tony then looked to Clint for help, who then pinched his fingers together, made a fist with the thumb against it, and put out his pinkie and thumb. The fingerspelling for May. 'May dropped off your hearing aids, Tony texted her nine million times about it.'

Peter groaned. 'He needs to calm down.'

Tony handed him the case, which Peter sat up and turned them on, putting them in his ears. "There we go."

"Oh my god, kid, I hate you. You didn't tell me?"

"I did!"

"In _advance_."

"Alright, well, now you know. Why'd May drop them off?"

"'Cuz Tony freaked out. He thought you went deaf in a lab accident here."

"Nope. I had some virus as a baby or something." He shrugged. "Smells like pancakes." Peter quickly changed the subject.

"Yep, yours truly made them."

"Excuse him, _I_ made them." Tony interrupted. The three left the room and Natasha was already eating one of them. Peter got a plate for himself and sat on the ground in front of the coffee table, on his phone as he ate. He glanced over at Tony, who was lost in thought. Peter frowned. He was worrying too much.

"I'ma go down to the lab, okay Mr. Stark?"

"Oh, yeah, that's fine." Tony snapped out of his reverie. Peter stood up and made his way downstairs, bouncing on his toes. While in the elevator, he signed 'deaf' and a menu came up to enter your name and your code (Peter's was 774337 - Spider) and the floor you wanted to go to. He closed it, going into the lab. He started to continue making another batch of longer-lasting webs and just jotting down ideas for things in his Spider-Drone.

Peter had music on when Tony came in, who he nodded to and continued to work. He bounced his leg as he added to the notepad in front of him. _Maybe a sensor like FRIDAY to detect a heartbeat? In case someone's in danger?_

Peter looked up at Tony, who seemed distracted. "Everything okay, Mr. Stark?"

"Do you want me to add something to the suit? An amplifier?"

Peter paused. "I mean, my hearing aids work fine. I usually wear them while in the suit and mine are made to stay in if you move a lot." He shrugged. "You don't have to do anything, Mr. Stark. I've been deaf for as long as I can remember, I know pretty much everything I need to."

"Can you teach me sign language?" Tony blurted. Peter frowned. It could've been worse. At least he's actually asking, and not just to learn the curse words like most people. Peter hated those people.

"If you want me to. What made you wanna learn it?" He wrote down _translator_ on the notepad.

Tony shrugged. "I've been thinking about it anyway. Clint refuses to teach me so I was going to take a class a few years back, but never to around to it. After Clint went deaf, a handful of the gang took up an ASL class. And since two Avengers are deaf, it makes sense-"

Peter dropped his pen. "I'm an Avenger?!"

Tony realized his error. "What? No! That's not what I meant! You're not-"

Peter clapped his hands together. "You called me an Avenger! FRIDAY, he called me an Avenger, right?!" He looked up to the ceiling, a wide smile on his face.

"Boss, you did refer to him as a part of the team." FRIDAY retorted. Tony muted her. Peter whooped in victory.

"That's- no, you're on the _team_, but you're not an Avenger-"

"Where's my champagne? I need to celebrate-" Peter stood up,

"No way in hell, kid. You're fifteen. You gotta be this tall to be an Avenger." Tony held his hand just a little lower than himself.

"I'm like, two inches shorter than you!"

"Nope."

Peter threw his hands up in the air. "I'm almost an adult. Mr. Stark, come on-"

"Sam would kill me if I crowned you an Avenger before him anyway. So no. That's that." Tony marked it the end of the conversation, but Peter frowned, deciding no, it will not be.

Peter frowned. "Then you better start finding a class. I'm not teaching you until you make me an Avenger."

"Then I guess you're not teaching me. FRI, find me a class where I can learn sign language." Tony knew she wouldn't do that, but he needed to say that to get Peter's blood boiling.

"Traitor!"

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! drop a comment if you liked it, maybe?  



End file.
